Ad Astra! ... an Aurora Forum Game, run by blue emu

[Capt. Kiwi]

Are you sure we should risk embarrasing Elvis by showing his friends what he got up to on holiday?

Regardless, this should be a very positive development. While the Eridani system hostiles may be precursors, I think they highlighted just how far behind the rest of the galaxy we are. My own game experiments show that tech levels in key areas make disproportionate differences. For the near future we're best off leveraginf off the Charlies, using them as a shield and grabbing all the tech we can off them. In the meanwhile, we build up our capabilties to stand up for ourselves.

 

[blue emu]

Errr... as it turns out... while we've been making these elaborate plans for tailing Charlie back to his home planet, the Pratt Shipping and Mining Company has already FOUND the Charlie home world, and has started trading with them.

They are on Groombridge 34-A II, the habitable planet in the Groombridge 34 system. Just as we suspected.

Thermal signature of the planet is 13,748. Earth's is 23,689, so they seem to be about 2/3rds as populous as Earth. Their EM signature is also roughly 2/3rds that of Earth. Definitely their home planet, since a colony couldn't grow to 600,000,000 Charlies in five years.

 

[stamasd]

Private enterprise at its best.

 

[blue emu]

Our sig-int department has monitored reports to head office by the Pratt Shipping and Mining Company Freighters in the Charlie system, listing 32 Charlie ships of various classes in or near the Charlie home world. Some of them have a thermal signature of only 1, whatever that means. Even our Fighters have a thermal sig of 5.

 

[Lord Martin]

Our sig-int department has monitored reports to head office by the Pratt Shipping and Mining Company Freighters in the Charlie system, listing 32 Charlie ships of various classes in or near the Charlie home world. Some of them have a thermal signature of only 1, whatever that means. Even our Fighters have a thermal sig of 5.

Could it be some kind of cloaking technology?

 

[unmerged(105596)]

Errr... as it turns out... while we've been making these elaborate plans for tailing Charlie back to his home planet, the Pratt Shipping and Mining Company has already FOUND the Charlie home world, and has started trading with them.

Go Pratt!

 

[Stuckenschmidt]

Wow, so many great news. Mankind is on a good way. So Charlie is now definitely friends and the Prix don`t show up. That should buy us a lot of time to develop.

 

[blue emu]

Go Pratt!

Pratt Company stock is at a record high, by the way. Seriously.

EDIT: I'm going to have to replace our sensor buoys within the next month, so it's time for another sortie of the fleet.

 

[A_Dane]

the charlies are outnumbered! (but seems to be friendly xD) do you feel they can be taken on btw?

 

[blue emu]

I expect that we could take on the Charlies, if we had to... but they would be more useful as allies, if we can swing that. They would cover the flank of our Nexus colonies.

 

[Stuckenschmidt]

I hereby grant the Officers and Crew of ESNA Hansa a vacation on Groombridge 34-A II, for they have a really splendid entertainment...ehm...museums district in their capitol. Cultural exchange ftw.

 

[Amadeus]

Wow, indeed some very good news !

EDIT: what about the Geological team you send on "the giant pink rabbit" comet, are they still alive ?

EDIT 2: is it possible to exchange/buy techs from alien races given high enough diplo-relation ?

 

[blue emu]

what about the Geological team you send on "the giant pink rabbit" comet, are they still alive ?

They've been there about three years, and still haven't reported in. I think the rabbit might have gotten them.

is it possible to exchange/buy techs from alien races given high enough diplo-relation ?

Technically, yes. It requires a Relationship of +6000. Currently +246.6

 

[Amadeus]

They've been there about three years, and still haven't reported in. I think the rabbit might have gotten them.

Maybe is time to send them somewhere else, if they are still alive and not to much brain-damaged

Technically, yes. It requires a Relationship of +6000. Currently +246.6

OK, not an option then.

Btw, does committing more then one diplo-team (to the same race) being possible and effective ?
If so you could just send in so many of them to speed up the pace of progress

 

[blue emu]

Maybe is time to send them somewhere else, if they are still alive and not to much brain-damaged

Nah... I'd hate to spend three years there and have nothing to show for it. I'll just leave them there until they either rot or succeed.

Btw, does committing more then one diplo-team (to the same race) being possible and effective ?
If so you could just send in so many of them to speed up the pace of progress

Pretty sure not.

 

[blue emu]

The Espionage team has been dropped off on the Charlie home world. If they get caught, Vonyx and Xz2 can add the line "Devoured by Aliens in Blue Emu's 'Ad Astra' forum game" to their signatures.

 

[demanvanwezel]

so wait a ship called the nostromo is carying a crew that is going to check out a world with alien lifeforms?

This can only end well doesn't it

 

[GaiusC]

EDIT: My Galaxy map shows a habitable planet in that star system... but I can't find it, and it's not listed in my "potential colonies" list. This is the second time this bug... if that's what it is... has happened.

Planet-sized cloaking technology?

 

[Dewirix]

I've been lurking in this thread from the beginning, but just wanted to pop up now to congratulate you on what's probably been the best hard sci-fi story I've read in a long time. The Charlie fleet entering the Sol system and then showing up as hostile was an extremely tense episode and underlined just how close you came to a shooting war over a mistake.

Can't wait to see where this goes from here!

 

[Edzako]

Are there any data how profitable this alien trade are ?